Community, conservation and commonality weave through Bob Budd's 'Otters Dance'

Dec. 30—"Otter's Dance: A Rancher's Journey to Enlightenment and Stewardship" is a book 30 years in the making.

After decades of writing, editing and conservation work across the state of Wyoming, local author Bob Budd has produced a book that is literally lined with acclaim from figures like author C.J. Box, Gov. Mark Gordon, former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Richard Night, professor emeritus of wildlife conservation at Colorado State University.

The memoir, which contains a collection of introspective essays spanning Budd's life, is an exploration of where ecology, economy and spirituality intersect in the land of Wyoming.

With anecdotes and stories spun to convey more far-reaching moral messages, Budd feels not only fulfilled, but humbled by the response to his most personal piece of work so far.

"This book is a collection of some of the things I have learned along the way," he writes in the introduction. "It is a collection of memories that have come from the land, and the people who chose building community ahead of their own interests ...

"There are many more stories to tell from the past, but there will be more to come in the future, if we will just close our eyes, take a breath, and look for the things we have in common, instead of those few that may divide us."

Though the stories are varied, they accumulate to one larger narrative that encourages human connection not only to the land, but to one another.

Thursday morning, Budd sat down with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle at his home in Cheyenne to talk about the response to and development of his acclaimed book, as well as the overarching conversation around Wyoming's current position as a front-runner in conservation.

"To me, it's kind of like a good bourbon — some things need to age," Budd said about the timing of his book's release. "I think the timing is right, because I think that we collectively, in society, are trying to figure out what to do relative to conserving the things we have."

Budd is the executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, a program established to create management plans for the conservation of things like the Big Sandy River, sage-grouse and bighorn sheep population in the state.

"Otter's Dance" is the culmination of a lifetime of ranching, rangeland management, his education in agricultural business and animal science, and the importance of community in preserving the land.

Regardless of whether the reader has a diverse background in ranching and conservation, or virtually no frame of reference for the state of conservational efforts, the narratives in the book offer something for everyone.

"Somebody asked me, 'If you could describe (the book) in a handful of words, what words would you use?'" Budd said. "One is 'wonder.' I hope it conveys the wonder of things that you see. And the other is hope — I think that there's a lot of hope. I mean, we now have technology and the ability to do things that we could never have done."

Aside from the personal impact of the book — the passion behind caring for nature, wildlife and community — is Budd's assessment around rethinking the way we approach conservation. For one thing, he argues against people's inherent urge to argue and take sides when it comes to maintaining the land.

Having been on both the ecological and the economic sides of the argument around the future of Wyoming's land management, he has watched as legislatures and ranchers dug trenches to fight the same fight year after year. The two sides would be far more effective if they worked together, Budd said.

"As my dad said, it's hard to stand with your feet in two boats," he said. "But what I found is that there was a critical mass of people in the West that were tired of the fight."

It's mutually beneficial for economists and ecologists to form a symbiotic relationship.

Development of a more healthy environment might take more time, but it means more economic opportunity in the long run.

"Look at it in context of agricultural history; you'd have neighbors in the valley that just cussed each other up one side and down the other," he said. "But if something happened, the first one there would be that neighbor. You had a human commonality."

As a fifth-generation Wyomingite, Budd can see changes in the environment where others might still see the state as "all that's left of what North America was." The changes are more subtle in this state when compared to Colorado, but as land is developed, sage grouse, antelope and mule dear habitat is lost, throwing off the balance of the environment.

The new school of thought that Budd pursues is in allowing the land to fertilize naturally, stabilizing the soil before we attempt to reap the benefits.

"We have native grasses, native forbs, species of insects and others that are important to that system," he said. "In 20 years, it might get back to what it was. But we've done the stabilization and given (the land) a chance to do what it's going to do."

But as Budd specified on Thursday, the book isn't arguing against Wyoming's growth — it's arguing for growth through processes like the implementation of environmental laws that help the state.

These are conversations that are woven throughout "Otters Dance," but the entirety of the book is clearly a labor of insightful life experiences that will keep the reader invested in the exploration of a man's life and love for Wyoming.

If the reader takes nothing else from the book, they should understand its a call for more observation and listening. Land and community are just about all we've got.

"By being able to listen to others and truly absorb, understand what they're saying, you find a commonality," Budd said. "We all have a commonality. I don't care who it is. There's something we have in common, and that's one of the magics of Wyoming."

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.